Savor the Moment
by HeroSavesPeople
Summary: After attempting to save her sister from her father's drunken wrath Megan and Lily get into a car accident leaving Megan severely injured. For a moment she was straddling the line between life and death but it was enough for Will. As Megan recovers, Will is dead set on separating her from the source of her problems while Megan believes it's time to finally face them and end it.


"So what do you think? How is it?" Megan nervously asked Will as they both sat on her bed.

"Do you think it's alright? Will they like it?"

"Relax," Will laughed, watching her wring her fingers at odd angles. He grabbed her hands firmly and pulled her to him tightly. "You are way too wound up. Since when has your writing ever been disappointing?"

She sighed, "Just read it, please."

"Well, I will," he said. "As soon as you stop freaking out," he added looking warily at her wringing fingers.

Megan nodded and took a deep breath in and then let it out slowly while closing her eyes. "Better?" Will asked.

Megan took another breath in and again let it out slowly. Finally she said, "Yes. Whoo! Much better. Ok, proceed."

As Will read the article, Megan sunk pack into the pillows and relaxed, thinking about happy things. Like when Will took her to the beach yesterday afternoon. They had so much fun swimming and racing each other in the water and ending the day with a picnic that he put together.

She was snapped out of her thoughts abruptly when Will spoke. "This is amazing," he said looking at her. "Seriously, you're a genius."

"Really? You think so?" she asked nervously albeit elatedly, "I wasn't sure because I was trying a different approach than I usually use, but I thought that would be the best way to go anyway. It just felt right with his story."

"Yeah, it makes sense. I mean he's a comedian so this style works perfectly," Will said in amazement. "I never would have thought of that and how much work goes into creating this tone. I mean I'm not an expert, but I like it. It's great," he smiled widely at her, so proud. "He's going to love it."

Megan squealed and jumped on him, bringing him into a tight embrace.

"Thank you, thank you!" she giggled. "Ok, can't get too excited," she said, pulling away.

"Maybe you're biased and plus Donald still has to approve it next week,"

"Hey, I take this seriously, Megan. I want you to succeed and I would provide some constructive criticism if I knew you needed it. I mean, I'm not a writer, but I'm not stupid either," he looked at her pointedly as if she was accusing him of being an imbecile. But his subtle smile told her he was joking.

"I know. I trust you, Will. Of course. Always. I just don't want to get ahead of myself."

"I get it, but don't psyche yourself out. Accept the fact that you're brilliant," he grinned. "The only thing though is that I think you should highlight a little more about his inspirations and his very first comedic act when he was ten. You mentioned them already, but add just a bit more, I think," he said squinting at the paper slightly. "I mean, I don't know, but maybe that could be something good? What do you think?"

Megan quickly read over her article and mentally added in Will's modifications.

"Yeah," she said softly. "That would definitely make it better. He's pretty inspirational, you know. People would love to hear about that. What about the part where I mention how he volunteered his time in hospitals and made skits specifically for the patients there. And his charity fund. Is that enough?"

"Oh, yeah definitely. That's perfect."

Megan and Will smiled at each other for a moment. "Thank you, Will. This means a lot."

"Of course. I'd do anything for you," he said gently before leaning down and kissing her, firm but sweet.

After a few moments, Will pulled away slightly, "Alright, Nutty. Time for you to get some sleep," he said softly.

Even though he wanted to do anything but sleep, he knew Megan had a stressful day and needed to rest. And as if on cue, Megan yawned and pulled away some to cover her mouth.

"Yeah, probably. I have this big parent/teacher breakfast meeting thing to go to tomorrow morning. Well in my case tutor/teacher. Can you believe this is how they conduct a parent/teacher meeting?" Megan said, but soon recanted, "I mean, _you _probably can, growing up in the posh life and all—" she broke off at the sound of Will's chuckle. "What? It's true. But, anyway our meetings were nothing like that at all. Not that either mom or dad went."

"Well, I hope you have fun and get good news about the girls. And _I_ have my tennis match to look forward. Fun." He said, tucking himself under the covers.

"What time are you getting up?" Megan asked.

"Seven."

"Hmm, well I'll be up earlier so I'll see you after I get back."

Megan got into bed and shut off the light.

"No, then wake me up when you do. I want to kiss you goodbye," he said pulling her closer.

"Aw, ok," she whispered blearily before kissing him on the lips. "I love you, Will."

Suddenly Will felt his heart clench in sync with his arms as they tightened around Megan. He swallowed the lump in his throat, holding her close and never wanting to let go.

"I love you, too. So much," he whispered before they both drifted off to sleep.

1: 36 am.

That's what the clock read when Megan got out of bed. Carefully she slipped out of bed, making every effort not to disturb Will. Thank goodness for the Temperpedic Bed, she thought to herself. She tiptoed out of the room and into the bathroom. After relieving herself and washing her hands, she made her way back into her room. Just as she stepped through the doorway, her phone that was by the door, charging buzzed, informing her of a new text message.

_Who the heck is texting me at this time? _

Megan bent down and unplugged her phone from its charger. Shielding the phone lest the light bother Will, she warily opened the text message.

She froze, her body filling with dread and the impending despair.

SOS—Lily

Again her phone buzzed alerting her to a new message.

Meggie help. Need u. Dads house.

The fragmented words scared her to her very bones. She moved without thinking, quickly changing out of her cotton nightgown and into the pair of jeans and blue blouse she had laying on the couch. With one last fleeting look at Will's sleeping form, she left the room and quietly shut the door behind her.

Driving down the road toward her father's house, Megan wildly thought of all the possible scenarios that could have happened.

_What was Lily doing at dad's house? Did something happen to dad? Did mom come back? _

All these questions were running through Megan's head at a rapid-fire pace as she sped down the road. The questions were endless in her mind.

She had just barely made it in front of the house when she heard a loud crash coming from the inside. The sound of glass shattering made Megan jump out of the car, leaving the keys in the ignition, barely registering Lily's car in front of her.

She quickly ran up the steps to the door banging on the door in the hopes of interrupting the chaos that was happening inside.

Just as she pulled out her key she heard Lily shout, "Megan!"

Frantically, Megan stuck the key into the door, and pushed open the door with a bang.

The sight before her frightened her unlike anything she had ever seen before.

There was her father standing in the kitchen bewildered and in a drunken stupor. The living room was a disaster and looked as though a tornado had swept through it. Shattered pieces of glass from the vases and the coffee table littered the floor along with broken pieces of wood. Cushions were lying around the floor around the upturned couch with cotton and feathers spread about. The destruction didn't end there, though.

To her horror, Megan noted a red spot on a broken beer bottle. Her stomach turned queasy as she dared to think of the possibility of what that was and what it meant.

Quickly looking up at her father in fright, she scanned his gaunt and drunken form, his shoulders hunched over in his flannel shirt as though he was carrying all the grief in the world. She swallowed thickly as she realized the blood had not come from her.

He stared at her with his bloodshot eyes in confusion.

"Megan?" he slurred.

"Dad," she barely whispered while her eyes searched desperately for Lily. A scratching from the door across the room alerted Megan.

Without hesitation she swiftly made her way over there, being careful not to set her dad off. Arthur continued to watch Megan as she made her way to the door before letting out an ugly shout.

Megan stopped abruptly, startled and looked over at her dad.

He had spun around on the spot and swept the kitchen counter of all of its content.

This was her moment to escape. She spun into action and jumped for the door where she knew her sister would be. Opening the door, she saw Lily's small frame crouched in the corner with her thin arms wrapped around her quivering knees. Stray strands of hair fell from her loose ponytail and were matted to her tear streaked face. Her wild, red-rimmed eyes looked up at her in fright and despair. Megan noted the line of blood coming from her left bicep.

The sight made her want to collapse, but she knew she had to be strong. There would be time later to breakdown.

She quickly crouched by Lily after locking them inside the room. "Come on Lily, we have to go. We have to go now!" she said urgently. She examined her bleeding arm; it didn't look too deep, she'd worry about it later.

Lily looked into her big sister's eyes and quickly wrapped her arms around Megan, locking her into a tight embrace.

"Megan, I don't know what happened. I didn't know he started drinking again. I went to check on him like I said I would and he went crazy on me. I found all the empty bottles and he got mad," Lily whispered hysterically.

"It's going to be alright, Lily. You can tell me everything later, but right now we have to leave before he hurts you again," Megan said before lifting Lily up to stand. She quickly searched with her eyes for something she could use to protect them. Finally, she found her old lacrosse stick. Not knowing whether it would be enough, she held tightly to Lily's hand and carefully opened the door. Peering around the doorway, she whispered to Lily,

"You're going to run straight for the door and into my car. Ok? It'll be open."

"But, what about you, Megan?" Lily whispered urgently. "You'll be with me, right? You're not going to stay and try to talk to him are you?"

"No, of course not. I'll be right behind you, ok? He's beyond reason n—," she broke off abruptly when she heard the sudden slamming of cupboards from the kitchen.

"Ok, when I say 'go,' Alright?" said Megan, looking at her sister seriously. Lily nodded.

When Megan saw her father distracted, drinking from another bottle alcohol, she said, "Go!"

With that, Lily quickly sprang out of the room and headed for the front door with Megan hot on her heels, clutching the lacrosse stick close to her.

As she ran, she turned to look over her shoulder and saw her father filled with rage and heading toward them.

"Where are you going! Who said you can leave me too!" he shouted just as Megan screamed for her sister to hurry.

The adrenaline made her run like she's never ran before; she was flying down the pavement, focusing on her sister and the car.

Lily wrenched the passenger door open and jumped inside as Megan ran around the front of the car and into the driver's seat. The sister's simultaneously slammed their doors shut just as their father reached the car. Megan quickly locked the door, not allowing her father's pounding fist or shouts to distract her as she sharply pulled away from the curb on onto the road.

Her heart was pounding in her chest painfully. Gasping for breath, she shakily steered the car away and away from her father's running form behind them.

Breathlessly, Lily said, "I'm so sorry, Megan. I was supposed to check on him like I told you, but I didn't."

She cried silently as Megan spoke, "It's not your fault Lily. I should have seen this happening. I stopped coming over when spewed that crap about mom being in trouble."

Megan's eyes filled with tears and the traffic lights in front of her were becoming blurry shades of white, yellow, red, and green.

"I should have protected you," Megan whispered, almost to herself, not noticing the sleepy driver who ran the red light and straight into side of the bumper.

The car swerved, spinning erratically until it hit the side of a parked car.

Megan lifted her head from the steering wheel with great effort. Her head was pounding, her eyes blurry with pain and unshed tears as her shoulder throbbed. Her whole body in unbelievable pain, Megan still lolled her head to the right to look at Lily.

"Lily. Lily, are you alright?" The pain was getting worse and worse, suffocating her. Every bone in her body felt broken and sore. She was losing consciousness fast.

"Oh my god, Megan!" Lily shouted. "Megan!"

Her sister's tearful and anguished cry was the last thing she heard as her world faded into black.

At 3:47am Charlie's phone rang.

Groaning softly, he burrowed his head even further into his pillow. _Mandy will get it,_ he thought. But then he remembered that Mandy had gone to New Jersey to visit her parents.

Whining, he pulled himself up and reached over to the phone on his bedside table. _Who the hell is calling me in the middle of the night? Can't be some booty call._ Picking it up, he groggily said, "Hello?"

"Hello, is this Charlie Hogan?" a woman's voice asked.

"Yes, speaking. What is this about?" Charlie asked slightly impatiently.

"I'm sorry, sir. I'm calling from the Palm Beach Memorial Hospital—"Charlie froze with dread and confusion.

"—I'm really sorry, sir, but Ms. Megan Smith was admitted to our hospital earlier this morning…"

Charlie didn't bother hearing the rest of her words before he ran out of the house in his pajamas, stopping only to pick up his keys and jacket.

When he arrived to the front desk he desperately asked, "Megan Smith? I'm looking for Megan Smith."

"Oh, you must be Charlie," the receptionist said. Looking down she pulled the name up and said, "She's in room 203. Take the elevator to the second floor and the room will be the second door on your right."

She had barely finished her words when Charlie ran past the elevator and took the stairs to the second floor. He didn't need the receptionist's directions because immediately he saw Lily with her left hand in a cast and her arm wrapped in a sling, looking distressed while a doctor spoke softly to her.

Ice cold dread filled Charlie as he walked forward as though in a trance. Just then Lily looked up.

"Charlie!" she gasped before bringing him into a tight embrace. "What are you doing here? I'm so glad you're here."

"I got a call from the hospital. About twenty-five minutes ago," Charlie said in a hollow voice, looking at the door he guessed Megan was in. "Lily. What happened? Is Megan—?" he broke off abruptly, eyes stinging.

Lily pulled away just enough to look at his face. "She'll survive. That's what the doctor is saying." She looked at the doctor behind her.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Cassidy," said the man. He was of average height, with clear grey eyes and a five o' clock shadow graced his slightly tanned face. He was wearing a pair of grey scrubs underneath his lab coat that bore his nametag.

Charlie cleared his throat, trying to gain his bearings again. He tore his eyes away from the door and finally looked at the doctor.

"I want to see her. I want to see her, now."

"I understand, sir—"

"Charlie. Name's Charlie," he said. Hearing a doctor call him 'sir' somehow made the situation a lot worse. No one ever called him 'sir.' Ever. Not even the patrons at the restaurant he worked at.

"I'm sorry. I understand, Charlie, but at the time, Megan is not ready for visitors. We have nurses and another doctor in there working on her right now, prepping her for srugery. She was in a serious car accident and it will be some time before we'll be done treating her wounds. Unfortunately she has suffered from some severe wounds and trauma and it will take some time. As soon as we are finished, we will inform you. I promise."

Dr. Cassidy smiled gently at Lily and Charlie. "Now, Lily, you are all set—"

"Wait, what kind of injuries did she sustain?" Charlie interrupted, his eyebrows furrowed.

Lily looked at Charlie tearfully as the doctor spoke. "Well, she sustained a serious head injury that we had to implement an induced coma. But she will wake up from it, no worries," he quickly added when Charlie's breath hitched at the word 'coma.' "She has some broken bones on her arm, her wrist more specifically and her forearm was fracture. A hairline fracture, so that will quickly heal. Some ribs were also fracture, but thankfully no internal bleeding or organ punctures. Her left leg is heavily bruise, but nothing broken. It'll probably feel sore more than anything. We're more concerned with her head and the immense loss of blood. We've sent for a rapid transfusion and they're currently working on mending her wounds and repairing right now,' he finished.

Charlie let out a gust of breath and heavily sat down on a nearby chair. He put his head in his hands and tried to keep the tears at bay.

Megan, his Megan, was lying in the next room in the hospital. Broken. Injured and hurt. _How did this happen?_

Dr. Cassidy looked at Charlie and Lily who had taken a seat next to him, wanting to bring some hope to them.

"I know that it all looks bad and hopeless, but she'll pull through. I'm sure of it. Right now we need to work on her a bit more and allow her body to adjust to the changes and medications so she can heal properly. I'm sure by tomorrow, you'll be able to see her."

"Thank you, Dr. Cassidy," Lily said in a hushed tone.

"Of course. I have to get back now, but she's in great hands and I have faith that she will be just fine. In the meantime, you are both welcome to the cafeteria for breakfast or anything," and with that he entered Megan's room, the door that Charlie had been looking at for the past several minutes.

Charlie held Lily for a moment and gently released her looking at her. She seemed to be in pretty decent shape, but he asked anyway. "How are you? Are you hurt badly?"

Lily quickly reassured him, "No. No, I'm fine. Fractured wrist is all. Banged it on the dashboard, but I'm fine."

Charlie nodded and felt a slight sense of relief, but still the numbness of Maggie's condition held onto him like a vice. Car accident. How the _hell _did that happen? To Maggie Smith of all people.

He sat down dumbly on the plastic chair beside the door.

Lily looked at Charlie tearfully as if waiting to be blamed. "Charlie."

"I—I just need a moment, please. I don't know what happened or how, but my best friend is in there on the verge of death," he said lowly.

"No, Charlie, no. You heard what the doctor said! She's going to come out of this fine! You have to believe that. _I _need to believe that. Please," she pleaded. "I'm scared and I need you to not be like this. I need you to tell me she's going to be alright."

Charlie finally looked at Lily, not knowing what to say. Her gaunt face was pale white, her eyes shining as though permanently in tears. Her eyes, partially covered with stray strands of her blonde hair were filled with terror and insecurity. She looked nothing like Megan.

Megan. He had to hold on to the idea that she was going to return just fine. Megan would want him to be strong and he knew that she would be too. Despite her occasional moments of craziness, she was the strongest person he ever knew and he was going to be strong for her.

He steeled himself, looked Lily in the eyes, and with as much conviction he could muster said, "She's going to be alright."

It was his phone that woke Will up. 6:42am.

The ringing was incessant and he quickly moved to pick it up before it could wake Megan up. With his body turned away from her, he opened his phone and said, "Hello?"

"Hey, Will. It's me, James," his friend's voice spoke over he phone.

"Hey man, what's going on? We don't have to meet until later," Will said, his voice thick with sleep.

"Well, that's what I was calling about. There was an accident near the tennis courts. The match is going to be rescheduled, but I don't know when so I'll call you later when I find out."

"An accident? Jeez," Will breathed.

"Yeah, I know. I heard it was pretty serious."

"Any idea who was in it?"

"Nah, they still haven't released that stuff, yet. It happened early this morning. Anyway, so I was just calling to let you know that the match got cancelled. I'll see you later."

"Yeah, thanks for letting me know. Bye," Will said and hung up the phone.

With a grin, he snapped the phone shut and tossed it on the bedside table. "Megan—" he said turning over to wrap his arms around her.

He faltered, his arms dropping as well as his grin. She wasn't there. The space next to him was empty and cold. He frowned looking at the clock.

6:48am. He sighed, deducing that she probably left for the parent/teacher breakfast, not wanting to wake him up. He fell back onto her bed, wondering if it would be inappropriate if he went to the conference with her. He was bored and was planning on spending the day with her.

Rubbing his hands over his face, he got up from bed, thinking he'd have some breakfast before calling Megan. As he put on a shirt, he vaguely noticed her nightgown thrown on the couch.

He headed down the stairs and greeted Rami before exiting the house. He would be back soon. He pulled out his keys as he cut across the lawn and unlocked the door to his house. After brushing his teeth and taking a shower, Will changed into fresh clothes and headed back to Laurel's house to have some of Marco's breakfast like usual.

As he walked into the kitchen, Marco looked up questioningly. "Megan's not coming down?"

"What do you mean? She left for the parent/teacher breakfast early today." Will asked confused.

"Hmm, she usually makes an appearance at least by now. Well, I'm not offended at all. I'm sure posh rich private schools have a much better catering than what I can whip up," Marco said sarcastically.

Will chuckled, his eyes crinkling. "Well, I'm sorry Marco. What can I say? Least you have me."

"Sure, sure," Marco muttered, placing a plate of omelets in front of Will, pretending to be upset.

Will dug into the omelet and snatched up the newspaper Marco always left for him. "I told Megan to wake me up before she left, but she didn't."

"Huh, well probably didn't want to bother you."

"Yeah," Will trailed off as he read the front page of the paper. He flipped through the newspaper looking for something to read, but finally set it down after finding nothing of interest.

"So, Marco, what's the plan for today?"

Marco looked up briefly from cutting up onions with a slight smirk. "Bored Will? What, no fancy place to attend?" he joked.

Will chuckled, sipping from a glass of orange juice. "Match got cancelled today. I was planning on getting some practice in before the match, but James called and said there was an accident blocking the way to the courts. So no match."

"Really? Car accident? Hardly anything happens around here. That's why I stick to my telenovelas. Keeps me entertained," he said as he shimmied his shoulders. "Speaking of, one of my faves is about to come on any minute now. Care to join?" he asked as he pivoted and flipped to the right channel.

Will barely suppressed a cringe; he hated soaps. But, he liked Marco enough to humor him just this once. Sighing heavily and letting out an exaggerated breath, he said, "Fine. Fine Marco." He gestured towards the TV, "So, what's this one about?"

Marco beamed, excitedly getting ready to tell him about the sordid love affair a girl was having with twin brothers without realizing it. He pushed aside the cutting board and quickly wiped his hands.

Sitting at the counter opposite Will, he leaned forward. "Well, it all started with—" Just then the theme music came on.

Marco swatted the air excitedly, "Ok, ok you'll hear it all in the 'previously.' It's starting."

_"__Previously on 'Parallel Brothers'—"_ the screen flashed through scenes of previous episodes and Will already had a disturbed look on his face.

Abruptly, the show was cut off with a breaking news signal. "Nooooo!" Marco groaned as if the world was going to end. Will chuckled with relief, looking over at Marco.

As Marco continued to gripe over the interruption, Will's attention was deterred to the news curious as to what was so intriguing. His smile slowly slipped from his face as he saw the wreck that had cancelled his match. It was pretty bad—there were three cars that had been damaged, with a silver sedan completely wrecked on the driver's side. His eyes squinted at the car as the anchorwoman spoke. Marco had stopped his complaints to listen to the latest news.

Will's eyes remained on the silver sedan barely registering the voice on the TV. _Meg? No, not Megan's car._

But the anchorwomen confirmed the horrific conclusion he had come to.

_"__-The victim was identified as Megan Smith, 24 years old—" _Will tuned the rest out, barely registering Marco's gasp of horror.

He slowly got up from the stool as his heart raced rapidly. His chest tightened and he felt as though he could keel over and regurgitate Marco's breakfast right there on the kitchen tiles. _It has to be a different Megan. It has to be. How many others are there that are named Megan Smith? _Plenty he was sure.

Without thinking he pulled out his phone and immediately dialed her number. After a few seconds of ringing, he got her voicemail. "No," he whispered. As he dialed her again, he strode over to where he dropped his car keys earlier. Again, after only seconds he heard her voicemail.

A moment later he tossed his phone to Marco, who was also heading towards the door, "Call Charlie." If anyone knew the truth, it'd be him. As far as he knew, Megan hadn't spoken to Lily for some time.

Will's heart thundered against his ribs, swallowing the lump in his throat as he raced ahead towards his car. _Not Megan, not Megan… _were the only thoughts racing through his head.

"What happened? What the _hell _happened, Lily?" Will shouted. He would have felt bad about yelling at her, but at this point he didn't care; he just couldn't make sense of how and why this had all happened.

Lily cowered under his glare slightly. She was too worried about Megan to get pissed at her sister's boyfriend and his tone.

"It's not my fault," she answered weakly, not really believing her own words.

Will took a deep breath, but Charlie cut in, putting a hand on her arm in reassurance. "We know Lily, we know. No one's blaming you." He turned his head to look pointedly at Will.

Charlie had some time to calm down as he finally began believing that Megan was going to be alright. The doctors had been periodically giving them updates on her progress and he was feeling a bit more hopeful.

Will let out a gust of breath, closing his eyes and touching his forehead. He gritted his teeth, while trying in vain to speak calmly. He took a few breaths of air before he spoke again. "I'm not blaming you, Lily," and he really didn't, "I'm just trying to understand what Megan was doing out in the middle of the night. They brought her in past midnight? Why? What was she doing that she had to leave _just_ then without telling me?"

"I texted her. Dad was going nuts and throwing things all over the place and he scared the hell out of me!" she shouted defensively and somewhat hysterical. "I didn't know what else to do so I texted Megan and she came over and got me out of there. We were driving away and some guy fell asleep at the wheel and drove into the driver's side."

Charlie hadn't heard the whole story until that moment. He turned toward Lily and pulled her to his side as Marco sat heavily onto a chair next to her. Meanwhile, Will clenched his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut. That pathetic excuse of a father—he was to blame, making her life miserable just as she was moving on. Without warning whirled around and punched the wall behind him. He unclenched his fist and grunted with pain, but the pain was easily eclipsed by the sense of fear for Megan.

No one spoke for a moment, not knowing what to say or do before Will broke the silence. "When is she getting out? When are they going to be done?"

Charlie answered, "They said she's going to have to have to stay awhile to make sure the damages aren't permanent and that she doesn't have any spontaneous bleeds or reaction to the surgery and medicine. It's mostly just for precaution, but she really needs the rest and be under their supervision. Her body went through shock and trauma," he added grimly.

Will pressed his palm against his face and rubbed it roughly as he suppressed the tears threatening to spill. He pulled on his hair briefly, "Is that what they're saying now? Are there risks for permanent damages?" He was scared of the answer and didn't want to know, but he needed to know.

Charlie sighed, feeling drained, "They said she's going to be alright, Will. Just sit down and keep calm. Right now it's just her recuperating and the doctors making sure she's fine just as a precaution. She'll wake up and when she does, she'll be fine—completely lucid and everything. She'll be able to function normally and everything." He felt like he was rambling but Will needed reassurance and it wasn't doing anyone good if he was going to throw a tantrum or have an outburst.

Will nodded staring off at the wall. Finally dropping down on a chair opposite the others, he hunched over with a glazed look in his eyes. "She better be," he said grimly.

Fifteen hours, forty-six minutes, and fifteen seconds. That's how long it took before the doctors finally let them in. Will, who was stiff and jittery, ready to move at a moments notice, jumped up and walked through the door without letting the doctor finish his sentence.

He had spent the last few hours fighting exhaustion barely sipping the cup of coffee Marco had brought him and flat out refused the sandwich Lily tried to hand him. As soon as he had dropped down on that chair by the door, every memory he had of Megan flickered through his mind, blurring them all together. He remembered when he first met her as she walked through Laurel's kitchen, when he first fought with her, when he took her to his family's cabin as a surprise for their one year anniversary. Everything. In his memories he saw the pristine face, not a single mark or blemish on her flawless face.

But, now almost half her face was scratched and bruised. Cuts and red patches littered the right side of her face along with a bruise coming from underneath a bandage on the side of her forehead. Her eyes shut and skin pale, she looked like death and it very nearly brought him to his knees. He barely heard Lily and Marco's gasp or Charlie's hiss under his breath. He moved forward until he reached her side. Grasping her hand, his eye filled with unshed tears at the cold feel of her hand. His head shot up to the doctor.

"It's normal for her to be cold. She'll warm up soon."

Will nodded slowly as he sat on the bed by her hip. As soon as he sat next to her, her body close to him, he let out a gust of breath and leaned forward until his forehead rested on the pillow next to her head. He remained hunched over breathing heavily in and out blinking his eyes.

He felt a weight on the other side of the bed. Looking, up he saw Charlie at the other end with Lily sitting by Megan's leg, resting her hand on Megan's shin. Her face scrunched up as tears spilled over her cheeks. Marco rested his hand on her shoulder, looking down at Megan.

Suddenly he felt like he was suffocating; there were too many people in the small hospital room.

"Can I—can I please just have a moment with her?" He knew it wasn't fair of him to ask, especially of Lily. They all cared and loved her, but not like him he believed. He just needed to be with her.

Charlie met his eyes and nodded slightly in understanding. Lily looked more hesitant, but finally sniffled and left the room, Charlie and Marco following after.


End file.
